Chess User Guide
for macOS Big Sur
Use Chess on your Mac to play a match online, against your computer, or even against yourself.
Play a game
In the Chess app 
on your Mac, do any of the following:
Challenge your Mac or a person to a game: Choose Game > New.
Tip: When you start a new game, move the pointer over the items in the Variant and Players pop-up menus to get information about them.
Play a match online: Sign in to Game Center, choose Game > New, click the Players pop-up menu, then choose Game Center Match.
Get hints: Choose Moves > Show Hint. An arrow points to where you should move the piece. If the level of difficulty is set to Faster, hints aren’t available.
Take back a move: Choose Moves > Take Back Move for each move you want to undo.
See moves: Choose Moves > Show Last Move; an arrow points from the piece’s originating square to its new square. To see all the moves made during a game, choose Moves > Game Log.
Customize a game
In the Chess app on your Mac, do any of the following:
Set the level of difficulty: Choose Chess > Preferences, then drag the slider toward Faster or Stronger to decrease or increase the difficulty or speed (not available when you’re playing another person).
Change the look of a game: Choose Chess > Preferences, then choose a style for the board and pieces.
Change the viewing angle of the board: Click and hold any corner of the board, then adjust the viewing angle using your mouse or trackpad.
Hear moves spoken: Choose Chess > Preferences, select the checkboxes for the moves you want to hear, then choose the voices.
Use spoken commands
Make sure keyboard dictation is on in Dictation preferences.
In the Chess app
on your Mac, choose Chess > Preferences, then select Allow Player to Speak Moves.When you see the feedback window (it shows a microphone icon
with a fluctuating loudness indicator), press the shortcut key (the key you specified in Dictation preferences), then speak a command.Try not to hesitate while speaking.
You can use spoken commands for the following actions:
Action | Spoken command example |
|---|---|
Move a piece | “Pawn e2 to e4” |
Capture a piece | “Pawn e5 takes f6” |
Drop a piece | “Drop bishop at g4” (only for crazyhouse games) |
Promote a pawn | “Pawn e7 to e8 promoting to queen” |
Castle | “Castle kingside” or “Castle queenside” |
Take back a move | “Take back move” |